Bursting discs are designed to be supported in a very controlled manner in order to achieve burst pressure accuracy and repeatability. Bursting disc manufacturers provide holders to suit their particular design of bursting disc. Performance features of bursting discs often depend on the holder and disc operating together sympathetically. A typical example is by using keyed tabs on the disc and suitable location cut outs in the holder to receive the tabs so that the disc can only be inserted in the correct orientation, in order to enforce flow direction between the disc and the holder.
Various mechanisms have been used in attempts to eliminate the holder and reduce costs. Typically, this may only be achieved with customers who are able to modify the disc location interface to accept the control features that would have been used on the holder, for example controlled bore diameter and disc seat geometry. This is impractical except for customers who may be classed as OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) when incorporating these design changes into the disc mating parts is possible.
In the process industries, bursting disc assemblies, typically mounted in holders, are installed between flanges with flat gasket seals. It is desirable to eliminate the use of a holder in order to reduce costs. However, the opportunity to modify the flanges to suit the particular requirements of the bursting disc is absent in most process industries because pipe networks utilise standard components such as “off the shelf” flanges and gaskets. It has therefore long been thought that eliminating holders in the process industry is impracticable.